Abstract
Snow- and glacier-nourished river basins located in the Himalaya-Karakoram-Hindukush (HKH) ranges supply a significant amount of discharge in River Indus upstream Tarbela Dam. It is, hence, important to comprehend the cryosphere variation and its relationship to the stream flow in these high-altitude river catchments. The MODIS remotely sensed database of snow products was chosen to examine the average annual snow and glacier cover (cryosphere) variations in the Shigar River basin (poorly gauged mountainous sub-catchment of the Indus River). Hydrological regime in the area was investigated through monthly database of observed stream fluxes and climate variables (precipitation and mean temperature) for the Shigar River catchment. Analysis indicated the usefulness of remote sensing techniques for estimation of the snow cover variation in the poorly or un-gauged high-elevation catchments of the HKH zone. Results also showed that Shigar River discharge was influenced mainly by the seasonal and annual snow cover area (SCA) variation and the temperature seasonality. Moreover, it is important to uncover such inter-relationship of stream flow, climate variables and snow cover in the poorly gauged high-altitude catchments of Karakoram region for better water resource management and accurate flood hazards predictions at Tarbela.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundPakistan, the world’s sixth largest populated country, is an agro-based economy where the lives of ~60% people are either directly or indirectly affiliated to agriculture
Located in the high-altitudes of Karakoram, the Shigar river discharge confides primarily on the amount of snow stored at high altitudes and energy influx, indirectly allied to mean temperature
This is proposing that the data estimation methods for climate variables should be upgraded and the remote sensing techniques should be adopted in un-gauged high-altitude catchments to understand the snow cover variation and runoff control factors, further efficaciously
Summary
The world’s sixth largest populated country, is an agro-based economy where the lives of ~60% people (mostly rural inhabitants) are either directly or indirectly affiliated to agriculture. The management of Tarbela reservoir (Figure 1) calculates largely on the summer influx conferred by the snow- and glacier-nourished tributaries of Indus River located in the high-altitudes of HKH range It is, for this reason, crucial to estimate the seasonal snow cover in high-altitude snow-fed catchments using remotely sensed satellite data for various aims such as hydrometeorology, flood predictions and water resource management. The main research contents of this paper are to investigate the: 1) Average annual snow and glacier cover variation in a high-altitude river catchment area situated in the HKH region using MODIS remote sensing snow product; 2) Dependence of River flow on annual cryosphere variation in the study area using satellite data and ground observations; Correlation of River flow, climatic variables (mean temperature and precipitation) and snow cover variation in the study area
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
